Very bad campground experience

[Slownsy]

Last night we stayed at a Good Sam Park in the west of Calgary that had Woodalls certification in 2009 where we requested a full hook up site with access to WiFi The site we were given didn't even have an electrical bollard. Tried to plug into the next site but had to use an adapter from 30 down to 15 but nothing would work and relay kept tripping. The campers there told us that the power didn't work the previous day and they had already moved people out to a different site. We tested it at 10.6 volt. It was 92F and we have three small dogs so were very unimpressed. Saw the park maintenance man who said power is going out all over the park as it is so,old. Asked this morning for some sort of a refund on the $58 odd fee charged and was met with major hostility from the female manager. Her response was that we didn't even have a reservation which is true but very poor,customer service. She also commented that the park was full and this is why the electricity didn't work. I would have though any park would have sufficient power for sites available. Forget WiFi as it didn't exist past the front porch

[DutchmenSport]

What or where is Calgary? Never heard of it.

[winnietrey]

Would have been the right thing to do in my opinion, if the owner at the time of check in. Had simply said " yes we have a site, however the power may not be working ". If you want it, this is the fee. Just be up front with the customer, and a lot of problems go away.

If CG wanted to give a discount, cool, but if not that's fine too. As being high season someone would probably want it, but just be up front. And let the customer make the choice.

[4X4Dodger]

With due respect to RVPARKOWNER, much of what you say is immaterial.

Again; IF the OP has described the situation fairly.

If this problem happens when full in the summer it is not a new problem. They have an underlying infrastructure problem that needs to be addressed and that they have known about for some time. This is NOT the customers fault.

The OP stated they talked to the Maint. Man. The Office may have been closed by the time they figured this all out. And while I do agree that sooner is much better to let the management know about a problem it does not negate the fact that this was a well known issue at this park and a reduction - refund was certainly in order. Unless the OP was informed AT CHECK IN that there was a problem.

This appears to be simply a case of High-Season, Special Occasion Greed.

[westernrvparkow]

Dog Folks wrote:
When you go into a restaurant and get a bad hamburger, the time to complain is BEFORE you eat it, not after.

The time to complain about a campsite, and ask for a refund, is BEFORE you sleep there.

Have to agree, the time to look for refunds is when the problem occurs, not after you have consumed all the services. As for a few other issues, I don't know what Woodalls Certified in 2009 has to do with anything. It's now 2015, things change, and apparently in this case for the worse. Any park with only 30 amp service is going to have power problems in the heat of the day. Today, many rigs require 50 amp service. If they step down to 30 amp they draw nearly the full 30 amps all the time. This is not how the electrical system was designed to be used when it was installed. Electrical codes allow more potential power draw to be on a circuit than the rating of the main breakers. Take your house for example. It is probably a 200 amp service, but if you add up all the ratings of the breakers you will be around 800 or more amps. The idea is you can never run everything at once. I don't know what the code is for load factors on 30 amp services, but I do know they are approximately 60% on 50 amp service, meaning you can run seven 50 amp services on a 200 amp main. If all those 50 amp services drew full power, the mains would trip. I suspect that is what is happening with the park in question. Too many 50 amp rigs in 30 amp sites drawing 100% on each service.
Don't know how you could get 10.6 volts on your meter. Are you sure it wasn't 106 volts, which would indicate exactly what I was saying, the lines are just plain overloaded.
To our American readers, please note that the price of $58.00 was almost assuredly in Canadian dollars, which would equate to around $45.00 which isn't too bad for Calgary during the Stampede.
Unfortunately, this park sounds all too familiar, a facility that isn't putting money back into the park. See it all too often. The owners either just want to milk the place for all it is worth or are afraid to make the investment in upgrades because they don't think people will pay a higher price for better facilities. (you can blame some of the posts on these forums and some review sites for this. There is a constant drumbeat from some that the only thing that matters is price, facilities, utilities and everything else be darned).

[peaches_cream]

Dog Folks wrote:
When you go into a restaurant and get a bad hamburger, the time to complain is BEFORE you eat it, not after.

The time to complain about a campsite, and ask for a refund, is BEFORE you sleep there.

X2. If I stayed the night, I would be ashamed to ask for a refund. I would have gone to the office, ask for a refund or a move to a different site, and then moved or driven to another campground. So many want their cake and eat it too.

[accsys]

We are currently staying at the same campground and have been since July 1st and we will be leaving July 15th. We came for the Stampede and will be leaving in a couple of hours to attend the semi-finals. The only park just west of Calgary is (wait for it...) Calgary West Campground. With all of its failings, it is the best in Calgary. Its electrical problems are well documented on RV Park Reviews. Knowing this we made reservations for our two weeks here last February and expected to have electrical problems. We have a full hook-up 30 amp site and we also lost power for about 10 minutes yesterday but it has worked fine the rest of the time, even in this heat wave they are currently having, so we are pleasantly surprised. We would much prefer 50 amp but 95% of Canada doesn't know what that is!! :B

The park has been at capacity for most of the time we have been here and having one power outage (at least at our site) is just short of remarkable. The staff has been very nice and courteous on each of our contacts and there have been many between getting shuttle tickets and just getting general Calgary info. This stay has been much more delightful than we had expected.

I do not understand why some people refuse to make reservations. I have a large rig and want to know I have a place to park at the end of the day. There are many more units on the road today and the old days of just "winging it" are going away fast, especially during peak periods in destination areas. I cannot believe anyone would expect a place in Calgary this time of year without reservations. Oh, by the way, a small Fantasy Tour group came in yesterday as well, so yes the campground is full.

[4X4Dodger]

rr2254545 wrote:
Your there during Stampede - the biggest event of the year and your complaining and you did not have a reservation - get real - like going to Super Bowl with no ticket

Assuming the OP was giving an accurate account of the situation:

Stampede or no. It matters not. The issue is simple. They were promised a service for a given fee that service was not available and not delivered.

There is NO EXCUSE for that kind of customer service. PERIOD.

At the very least a kind word and a refund is in order.

[mdcamping]

I agree post you review at RV Park reviews Just remember to follow their guidelines, post a few descriptive sentences about the park and any criticism just be polite/constructive.

Mike

[Crowe]

BUT....once you get to the stadium and they sell you a ticket, you should expect that there will actually be a seat there.....and it won't be directly behind a post.

Your logic is fractured.

Not at all. When a scalper sells you a ticket you have no guarantee it's real. There's DEFINITELY no guarantee about the quality of the seat. However, I think the cg should have given a head's up they were having power issues especially after moving others from that site. A partial refund at a minimum is owed because the site did not meet the parameters advertised. It doesn't matter if it was Super Bowl weekend, the Calgary Stampede or a visit by the pope. They had an available site, gave no warning that it was compromised, took your money then didn't meet their end of the contract.

[3oaks]

Vulcan Rider wrote:

rr2254545 wrote:
Your there during Stampede - the biggest event of the year and your complaining and you did not have a reservation - get real - like going to Super Bowl with no ticket

BUT....once you get to the stadium and they sell you a ticket, you should expect that there will actually be a seat there.....and it won't be directly behind a post.

Your logic is fractured.

Better stick to your football. Evidently you have never tried camping anywhere near Cagary during the Calgary Stampede events without confirmed reservations. :R

[Dog_Folks]

When you go into a restaurant and get a bad hamburger, the time to complain is BEFORE you eat it, not after.

The time to complain about a campsite, and ask for a refund, is BEFORE you sleep there.

[midnightsadie]

you payed for electric and wifi, not there ,you should get a refund.

[Vulcan_Rider]

rr2254545 wrote:
Your there during Stampede - the biggest event of the year and your complaining and you did not have a reservation - get real - like going to Super Bowl with no ticket

BUT....once you get to the stadium and they sell you a ticket, you should expect that there will actually be a seat there.....and it won't be directly behind a post.

Your logic is fractured.

[icanon]

Name the Campground, otherwise I don't believe it.
I'm not calling you a liar it just many people complain about something and never post the name of the place they are complaining about making me believe they are exaggerating.
It's like reading Tripadvisor ratings some people will make a big deal of something little and give them a 'worst, don't go there, one star' rating. You have to read with a grain of salt.

[rr2254545]

Your there during Stampede - the biggest event of the year and your complaining and you did not have a reservation - get real - like going to Super Bowl with no ticket